The List Is The Thing

The List Is The Thing

by: Ken Leonard Jr.

Many companies begin their online sales ventures with the wrong strategy to build long term success. Thinking that a website is the core of their business leads them to focus on getting website visitors.

Making the site กstickyก, by using a memberonly area or a community feature such as chat or a forum, may get some of your visitors to come back for more. Unfortunately, the large part of your viewers may not use these features, and being in a hurry, they are just a click away from another new and interesting website. Many of your กhitsก are just that, a quick click, and they’re gone forever.

The visitor that clicked away likely found your site by using a search engine. They were interested in the search term that was one of your siteกs keywords. That means that they may be your ‘target customerก.

Isn’t it a shame that you only had one chance to sell this visitor on your product or service? Don’t you wish that you could followup on that กleadก at a later time? With a better offer or a different related product?

You can.

The focus of your online sales business กhasก to be capturing lead information (email addresses) and building a database of prospects and previous customers. This กhouse listก enables you to keep in touch with your leads, building a relationship and your credibility over time. The website is an important part of the sales กmachineก, but is not the primary focus, building your house list is.

Many people might think that the value of a house list is determined by the number of leads it contains. This is true, to a point. Affecting the value even more is the quality of the leads, or subscribers. A small list that is highly targeted, with responsive leads, is more valuable than a large list that is not targeted.

Quality comes from the methods used to build the house list. You want leads to optin, or subscribe, to your list. These people are interested in your niche, or they wouldn’t have joined the list. Using emails from one of those ก One Million Email Addresses For $10ก CDs will get little or no response. You will also be labeled as a spammer. Buying subscribers from list brokers is another option, but you have to be certain that the leads optedin to the list. If not, they are practically worthless.

Build กyourก house list, do it properly using optin methods, and reap the rewards of a responsive and loyal group of contacts. Followup with your leads on a regular basis, and youกll have it made.

About The Author

How do YOU get results online with little or no business experience? Get Ken Leonard Jr.กs new minicourse, ก7 Ways To Beat The Competitionก, a smart first step for YOUR small business. End your frustration, get going in the right direction!

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.kenleonardjr.com

This article was posted on January 09, 2003

by Ken Leonard Jr.

Creating Sales Conversations

Creating Sales Conversations

by: Charlie Cook

Youกve got a great product or service that beats the competition by miles. Once you get in front of people or get them on the phone, they’re sold. The only problem is you’re not getting enough of those initial conversations with prospects started so you can convert them to clients. Instead of having your phone ringing of the hook with requests, you feel like your firm is the best kept secret in your industry.

Sound familiar?

Bob called from Alabama with just this problem. His company manufactures creative, attractive and safe playgrounds. Lately, sales have been flat, at best, and despite having an outstanding product, his company isn’t generating as many sales as heกd like. Bob wanted to know how to start more conversations so he can jump start sales.

Want more conversations with prospects so you can sell your products and services?

The first step to starting a conversation with someone is to get his or her attention. In school, you raised your hand and eventually the teacher called on you of course, that is what the teacher was paid to do. When you’re marketing your products or services, you can’t just raise your hand and expect prospects to call on you. Running an ad or having a web site that describes your products or services is the equivalent of raising your hand. It may have worked in the classroom, but it doesn’t work in the marketplace.

When you focus your marketing on yourself, your firm or your products, it rarely works to get attention or start a conversation. To engage prospects and get them to contact you, you need to focus on their needs and wants.

Bob explained that he had three different markets: day care centers, municipal parks departments and architects and each has different concerns. Parks departments concern is durability and the safety of the materials used, day care centers is the creative design.

As Bob clearly understands, each target market has their own unique set of interests. These interests should be the focus his marketing effort, not the company name, credentials or product production techniques. Bob could be using these insights to create a marketing message or set of marketing messages to get the attention of prospects.

Through your experience you have a good idea of your prospectsก and your clientsก concerns and interests. Take a minute to jot down the top three concerns of each of your target markets. Use this information to engage prospects in conversation.

If a stranger walked into your office, whatกs the first thing youกd do? Youกd say something like, กHow can I help you?ก Not surprisingly, the same technique works wonders when you combine it with your knowledge of prospectsก concerns. Instead of touting your credentials or describing your products, lead with a question to start a conversation.

Bob could ask, กWant to learn more about improving the safety and durability of your playgrounds?ก Or a marketing coach might ask, กWant to learn more about attracting a steady stream of clients?ก Or the line that suckers me every time as an audiophile is, กWant to learn how to make your stereo sound like a live performance?ก

When we’re one on one, facetoface, starting a conversation comes naturally to most of us. Beginning with a handful of questions, you can quickly learn what someone wants and how you can help them. Focus on your prospectsก concerns with a question or two and youกll get their attention. Offer them something they want and theyกll contact you.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in marketing their business is to over emphasize closing the sale. What you want to do is open the door to new prospects, start a conversation and help them get what they want. Focus on starting more conversations with your marketing and youกll end up closing many more sales.

About The Author

2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook, ก7 Steps to get more clients and grow your businessก at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 21, 2004

by Charlie Cook

The ONE Thing YOU Should Focus On Right Now

The ONE Thing YOU Should Focus On Right Now

by: Lynn Terry

Let me just start out by saying that I cant tell you what that กone thingก is. It is for you to choose, and for you to do.

Thereกs a lot of talk out there among the กexpertsก about how to get rich, how to become successful, how to do this or how to do that. Itกs very easy to get distracted, and even easier to become overwhelmed. กInformation Overloadก, they call it.

The truth is, there are A LOT of viable business ideas out there. There are MANY ways to become successful or wealthy. There is TONS of potential in online marketing. And thereกs still PLENTY of room for you to step in and claim your fortune.

The question is: What are you going to do?

You could:

write a book or an ebook

promote affiliate programs via PPC

sell products on eBay

create & optimize contentrich sites in niche markets

build an empire of minisites

become a public speaker

be a web designer, copywriter or VA

That list could go on and on… and on. What I see all too often is that many people try to do ‘the whole listก. Or at least several at once. And that can be okay if your focus is one and the same in all things that you are doing. Or it can be disastrous. A recipe for failure.

Maybe you can relate to this scenario: You set out to do something, and it takes longer to earn the amount you had hoped for… and then you see another option. You try it out, it does pretty well, so you put some time and energy into it. Something happens rules change, markets fluctuate, algorithms change and you’re moved two steps back. You’re introduced with something new, more stable, and you focus on that instead.

This is a familiar story. If you haven’t experienced it yourself youกve certainly heard about someone who has. And theyกll tell you that the business idea they started out with originally was a failure, or that there was กno m0ney in itก or ‘too much competitionก.

Youกve probably heard that you shouldn’t have all of your eggs in one basket. That you should create 10 microniche websites that earn $1,000/month instead of one larger website that will earn you $10,000/month. In less than one hour of surfing the กnet, you might be told to do this, do that, promote x and build z. All of it sounds good. All of it could work. Try to do all of it at once and you’re going to be in trouble.

The key is to have a FOCUS.

Choose one thing and do it WELL. For example, if you have a contentrich website, you can also offer an ebook on the same topic. You can capitalize on affiliate sales, or Adsense clickthroughกs. You can build a highly targeted 0ptin mailing list. You can incorporate an กupsellก and backend sales into your shopping cart. You can set up your own affiliate program.

Basically, you want to build on the foundation you already have and make it stronger, make it bigger… make it more profitable! Sure you can implement all of these new methods and strategies that you learn. But don’t set out to do something completely NEW when you have already invested the time and energy into a project you haven’t yet completed. Instead, focus on making it the BEST.

Once it is running smooth on its own, and completely automated, you may want to build another or focus on something entirely different. But if you’re trying to build on 10 things at once, or find yourself working in entirely too many directions… itกs time to take stock, go back to the foundation, and decide how you can best finish building on that original idea of yours.

And thatกs it. Thatกs the ONE thing that YOU should be focusing on right now.

About The Author

The author, Lynn Terry, offers a free brainstorming resource for those that want to turn websites that cost money into websites that make money. Join Lynnกs interactive newsletter & discussion forum where you can Learn Internet Marketing, free: http://www.SelfStartersWeeklyTips.com.

This article was posted on February 17

by Lynn Terry

Hone Your Edge, Stay Focused

Hone Your Edge, Stay Focused

by: Duane Gordon

A common hazard faced by new entrepreneurs is a lack of faith in the power of their offer. Many business people lose focus because they are worried they wont generate enough cash flow from their core product. They attract potential customers with outstanding expertise but then muddy the water by trying to sell anything those customers want, regardless of how it fits into their business plan. This is confusing, both for the customer, who doesnt really know what type of business you have, and for yourself. Heres how to stay on track.
Many business people lose focus because theyre worried they cant generate enough cash flow from a small group of products or services. You attract potential customers with your outstanding expertise but then muddy the water by offering anything those customers want, regardless of how it fits into your business plan. You lose focus. If you dont focus, you wont have the knowledge you need to help your customer. You need to solve problems and offer a complete solution. You can only do that well in your area of expertise.
Losing focus sets you up for failure. If you cant solve your customers problems, your business wont earn a reputation as a good resource. This applies to any type of business. Imagine that you offer computer accounting services. You are an excellent accountant; you have a good reputation and an excellent rapport with your customers. If your customer needs a new computer, chances are they will ask you if you sell computers. Lose focus and you may be tempted to say yes. After all, you know computers… you use them all the time for your computer accounting business.
However, while you may use computers in your business, you are not necessarily an expert in the computer retail business. You may not know the best wholesalers. Youre not equipped to deal with repairs. You probably wont make money selling the computer after you invest all the time necessary to learn how to do it properly, and the time you invest takes time away from your already successful business. Whats worse is that a customer dissatisfied with your service wont tell other people not to buy a computer from you, shell tell them not to deal with you at all.
If you lose focus and try to be all things to all people, you will not be as successful as you could be in any business. Successful businesspeople tell you to focus on what you do best. Master your business and give your customers value. If your customer comes to you looking for something that is not part of your core business, refer her to someone else. In fact, you could even make a deal with another Web site and have them refer customers to you as well.
Affiliate programs do exactly that. In the end, you serve your customers better and they will continue to value your advice, your products and services. There are ways to offer more products and services to your customers and increase your cash flow without losing your focus or diluting your brand. Lets look at a concrete example.
MarieLynn and I were talking about a new business she wants to set up. MarieLynn is interested in mobile entertainment systems. In fact, shes looking for a DVD player for her car. She often travels by car with her husband and daughter, visiting family in other cities. Her daughter is now old enough to ask the dreaded question, กAre we there yet?ก She thinks it would be interesting to get a VCR or DVD player for her car to keep her daughter (and husband!) quiet and entertained.
Doing some research, she quickly realized there was a business opportunity here. Buying a car that has a DVD player included costs about $10,000 more than average because they tend to be luxury models. Thats a bit expensive for a DVD player! She looked for places that sell kits for DVD players, much like the kits you can get for car stereos. She found there were very few stores that would add a DVD player to a car, and she couldnt find any กdoityourselfก kits on the market. She was sure other people were having the same problem.
As we discussed it, I agreed this was a perfect business opportunity! I pointed out that this was a highpriced, highmargin product with relatively low shipping costs. We base our business strategy on establishing relationships with our customers and we can do that best with fewer customers. After all, were not trying to be a WalMart or a Dollar Store.
It had the advantage of being a product that requiring a good deal of expertise. Which DVD player is best? Which models fit in which vehicles? There was even potential for information products like plans for customizing older vehicles to accept a DVD player.
Imagine the longterm potential for offering DVD movies that play well to a traveling audience. MarieLynn will be able to warn her customers about movies with car crashes and highspeed chases that may give the driver a nervous breakdown, and she can recommend movies that keep her own daughter occupied. Moreover, whom do you think her customers will come back to when they change vehicles? As we talked, we both became excited about the possibilities.
I was convinced กDVD Players for Your Carก could be a perfect application of the Ride the Wave philosophy. Then MarieLynn also told me her research showed her that mobile and wireless networking products were selling well now. Everyone wants an alwayson Internet connection, and more and more people have multiple computers in their house that they want to network without drilling holes and running wires.
She was thinking about starting a business selling mobile and wireless networking technology and she would include the กDVD Players for Your Carก business with it. After all, there isnt any type of device more mobile than a car, is there? She was worried she might not sell enough car DVD players to make a profit and mobile networking was a highend market and there werent many people doing it. She was also worried that she might not have the expertise people were looking for when it came to DVD players… after all, she didnt even have one in her car yet. She was still shopping!
Theres a good chance many of you will have the same experience, though not necessarily with DVD players and mobile networking products. You will have doubts about your idea and doubts about your expertise. You will worry that you wont make enough sales of one product and youll be tempted to add other products to your online store. Ill tell you the same thing I told Marie Lynn.
Dont lose focus! The กDVD Player for Your Carก idea is excellent. It would only get lost in a กMobile and Wireless Networkingก Web site.
Remember: Your brand, your business name and its reputation, is your most valuable asset. Your must build and protect your brand over anything else. Your brand will be the true secret of your success and the source of the longterm security of your business and your income. Think of your brand as your position in the hearts and minds of your customers. Where are you in the hearts and minds of your customers? Remember your business strategy and you have every chance of success. Its easy to get distracted and lose your focus. Stay on track!

About The Author

Feel free to reprint this article on your Web site or in your electronic or printed publication. If you wish to edit the article for length or style, please contact me prior to publishing. When publishing the article, simply include the short กabout the authorก byline as shown.
Duane Gordon is a personal eBusiness Coach and Author of กRIDE THE WAVE, How to Succeed in the Next eBusiness Waveก Learn to turn your passion into a successful Internet business. http://www.ridethewaveonline.com/default.asp?a=1223&t=0022WSAR4A10001&d=surfsup/

This article was posted on July 26, 2004

by Duane Gordon

The Purpose Driven Business

The Purpose Driven Business

by: John Jantsch

I’d like to start this article off with a question. What’s the purpose of a business? Or, perhaps more specifically, what’s the purpose of your business? Do you ever think about that throughout the course of the day? Or, does it only haunt you at night or when you are trying to clear a jam in the copier?

Ten years ago I would have gone with Peter Drucker’s answer – The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Today, after 25 years of business ownership and asking several hundred small business owners this very question, I would have to say that the real purpose of a business is to give the owner of that business more life, more freedom.

In all my years though, I have never had a small business owner give me that answer. Many business owners instinctively go into business with the goal of achieving something that fulfills their dreams, but the making it, fixing it, shipping it quickly consumes. The phone rings and business owner reacts without thought to the demand on the other end.

At some point this wonderful vision of freedom and expression that you had for you business became just the oppositeThe monster that methodically took the life right out of you. Has anyone come to realize that your business can rob you of your life it you are willing to let it?

So, what’s the answer?

I think the answer to this puzzle comes down to two things – focus and connection.

Focus involves a discovery, or at least rediscovery, of what you want most out of your life. That knowledge then must become the focus of your thoughts and the basis for your business decisionmaking. See, unless you know and focus on what more life and more freedom really means to you and only you then you will never be able to go about building a business that delivers it.

Connection is the systematic application of your purpose in life to the daytoday function of your business. There has been so much written about the need to ขleave one’s business behind at the end of the dayข and I think that’s part of the problem. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, you can’t leave it so all you do is wrestle with it. Better to find a way to connect your business to your life. Now, in some cases, that may mean making dramatic changes in the way you go about your business, what your business does and who your business serves.

I can’t give you all the answers to life’s most persistent questions in the span of this article, but I can tell you this – Wake up or else. I’m not going to dwell on the ขor elseข as I suspect you may have already experienced it in some fashion.

I will however leave you with this paraphrased thought from an Ogden Nash poem titled ขPortrait Of An Artist As Prematurely Old Manข – Most of will regret our sins of omission, the things we didn’t’ do, far more than the sins of commission, the things we did do. See the full text here.

Find what you want out of life, find what you are willing to leave behind in order to get it and then connect that purpose every single day with what you do and you just may actually catch a glimpse of the magic that owning a small business can bring.

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

About The Author

John Jantsch is a marketing coach, speaker and bestselling coauthor of Wake Up . . . Live the Life You Love featuring contributions from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Mark Victor Hansen. You can find out more by visiting http://www.JohnJantsch.com.

This article was posted on December 22, 2004

by John Jantsch

Web Site Design – Focus, Focus, Focus

Web Site Design – Focus, Focus, Focus

by: Halstatt Pires

When creating a web site design, it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. In reality, the key to a good web site design is focus, focus, focus.

We Don’t Need No Stink’n Distractions

It happens ever few weeks or so. I am sitting in front of the computer contemplating the meaning of life, i.e., why my numbers aren’t being picked in the California lottery. A frustrated person calls and wants to know why their site isn’t converting. Shaking myself from my revelry, I valiantly pull up their site and here is what I find.

A mess.

The front page is a mass of blinking this and floating that. In really nasty situations, there will be something like a banner telling me the weather conditions in some city.

As if I cared.

I don’t even look at the weather in San Diego. Okay, we don’t really have any, but that isn’t the point.

The point is a site must have focus to covert traffic into revenue. This is known as the rule of one. Every page of a site should focus on one subject, product, thing, picture or whatever is relevant to your site.

If you have a page devoted to disco shirts with huge lapels, then everything on the page should focus on disco shirts with huge lapels. Typically, such a page would consists of brief text describing the disco shirts, thumbnails of the shirts and prices. The page should not include disco cds for sale. The cds should get their own page.

Don’t believe me? Then let us kneel at the alter of Google. The Google Adsense program is designed to let you put Google advertisements on your site. To put the ads up, you simply copy and paste a script provided by Google. Once the site is republished, each page with script will show Google ads. If you look at each page, you will note the script produces different ads for different pages. Further, the ads on each page correspond to the subject matter on the page.

Why does Google do this? Because ads that are relevant to the focus of the page will be clicked more than ads that are not. Put another way, the Adsense program is designed to focus on a single subject matter. The rule of one rears its head again.

Are you seeing a trend here?

If your site isn’t converting well, analyze the pages to see if you are focusing on one topic. If you have a weather banner on your site, there better be a very, very good reason.

About The Author

Halstatt Pires is an Internet marketing consultant with http://www.marketingtitan.com an Internet marketing firm in San Diego.

This article was posted on September 09

by Halstatt Pires

What Makes a Site Lucrative?

What Makes a Site Lucrative?

by: Maricon Williams

People ask too many things about websites. They ask about the key points to remember in order for their website to conquer the Web as well as to boost their sales. They ask about the right colors to use, layout, content and the likes. So many queries but it all sums up to one thing – a profitable website.

To boot, in order for your website to be lucrative, it must exude total equilibrium with all its elements. What do I mean with total equilibrium? Well, it’s simple. It involves six crucial rudiments – organization, focus, design, navigation, technology and marketing. Short of one rudiment means your website is incomplete and lacking. One by one lets us discuss their essence.

Organization

A design must be detailoriented. Just like a piece of art, each detail must contribute to the overall projection of the whole. Nevertheless, it must only have what it needs and nothing more. It is with semblance to the maxim in clothing that it is better to be underdressed than overdressed. This is because it can tend to lead the visitors astray. They may not be aware of where to go or where to look at. This is the reason why it is always safe to keep it simple and in order yet not tedious. Follow the basic rules and your readership will surely soar.

Focus

All sites have goals. In order to achieve that goal focus is necessary. Objectives must be met in a way that the target audience can relate and look forward to working hand in hand with you.

Design

Design must be simple with web safe colors. Design is something that will not punish the eyes of the readers, something that will not look shameful but a memorable and professional epitome of both art and function. It is advisable to use toolbars on homepages however, it must not be more than ten. Another thing that you should consider is its size. Ordinary home page has a standard 17ข size without any scrolling involved.

Navigation

Easy navigation means quick routing. That way visitor can transfer from one page to another without any difficulty. Giving burdens to visitor may mean annoyance and will most likely result to poor cooperation and realization of your goal.

Technology

It is noteworthy that a website should use accurate technology in order to meet its objectives and dynamics. It must be recent and up to date so that your target readers may not find it passé and rotten. You can utilize all possible resources so long as it will redound to the benefit and efficacy of your website.

Marketing

Lastly, the domain name must be easy to recall. It can bear the company/business name or something that will easily be connected to your products or services. It must have a onetoone marketing practice – an abode that will make clients comfortable and at ease. It must also be something that will make visitors come back for more!

About The Author

Maricon Williams

I love reading. Give me a book and Iกll finish it in one sitting. Reading is the chance to be transported to a different world and so is writing. Iกm more enthusiastic about writing however, since you can relay your ideas to someone else. I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a complete stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article somewhere. To relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people with music. Only mineกs less harmonic. I try to make up for it with the color I bring with words. And most of the time, it’s more than enough.

For comments, questions and additional information about web development, visit http://www.webdevelopmentpros.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 15

by Maricon Williams

Before You Think That Next Thought!

Before You Think That Next Thought!

by: Harald Anderson

Every thought we think is creating our future. Louise L. Hay

Researchers have discovered that the average person thinks anywhere between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. Since the majority of us spend anywhere from 1618 hours awake each day, we think a thought on average about every 1.1 seconds. That’s a whole lot of thinking going on. With this much thinking taking place there is nothing more important than to focus that energy on a meaningful goal that targets your objective. Whether you are an individual or business manager looking to improve your own condition, the GOAL is the instrument that puts order and purpose into all of this thought energy. Your thoughts lead to action. Your actions create habits. And the habits of your life will determine your ultimate destiny.

The principal premise of the personal development movement is that thoughts become things and that we get whatever we focus upon most. The questions that I think are worth asking are:

If thoughts are our currency for acquiring what we want, then what is it that you are spending your currency on?

Are you getting a good deal?

Are you experiencing the life you deserve?

I have yet to meet someone who claims to like setting goals. Most of us have tried goal setting at some point in our life and failed and just decided it was too much of a hassle. When we come to realize that the goal is comparable to a canvas for an artist we then begin to recognize the importance of goals in channeling our energy towards a desired purpose. The 60,000 thoughts are going to be there day in and day out. It would make good sense to focus those thoughts to an area that would result in a marked improvement of your life.

We are all familiar with the retail buying experience. We walk into a store. Locate the merchandise we want. Pay for it. Take it home. I submit that we engage in this exact same experience in designing our lives. Problem is that when our lives are not going the way we want we are unwilling to admit that we created that condition. It takes a great deal of courage to admit that our belief system might need some rewiring if we are not leading the lives we want.

Look around you right now at your surroundings. Everything that you own is a product of your thoughts. Likewise, everything that you don’t own is a product of your thoughts. Some quality thoughts are considered ขtoo expensiveข to even consider contemplating so we never even entertain them. When is the last time that you reminded yourself how ขawesomeข you are in spite of whatever problems are lurking in your life?

So we often spend our time with the thoughts that are most real to us and the thoughts that we know we can afford. Funny thing is that we have a budget of 60,000 thoughts each day to create whatever we want. In spite of that possibility so much of humanity traps itself in the ขcloseout thoughts aisleข and then wonders why life has become a battle for basic survival.

Here are a few of the more famous closeout aisle thought patterns:

ขIt’s just the way I am. I can’t help it.ข

ขI can’t control what I think.ข

ขThey are just thoughts for Gods sake! That doesn’t matter!ข

ขI just feel that way and there is nothing I can do about it.ข

The reality is that we CAN help it. There is no more important skill in life than learning to control the focus of our mind. In so doing, we can literally change our destiny. Every decision you make stems for the viewpoint of what you think you are and the value you place upon yourself. In the blink of an eye you can change your beliefs of what is possible and recognize that those limitations you encounter are all part of a flawed belief system.

I spent about thirty minutes trying to log my thoughts. Within minutes I discovered that my focus was literally ขall over the universe.ข Hundreds of disjointed thoughts entered and left my consciousness in a matter of minutes. Trying to keep track of them all was an exercise in futility. What this simple exercise taught me though was to understand the importance of goals. A goal certainly adds a focus and structure to thinking. The more ambitious the goal the more it forces us out of the ขcloseout aisleข and into the realization that the biggest obstacle in our lives is usually ‘us.’ The one thing I can guarantee you is that you will spend your thought budget every single day. Consciously or unconsciously you will think one thought every 1.1 seconds. With this being the case don’t you think it might be a good idea to make a concerted effort to focus your attention on the things that you want to create? Isn’t that the entire purpose behind having goals? Isn’t that the entire purpose to happy living?

A good friend of mine is working diligently on expanding his business. The one thing he is focused on is understanding that his growth in the past was a direct result of his thinking. Now as he confronts the future he recognizes that his thinking has become the obstacle to getting to the next level. Interesting dilemma isn’t it? You want to grow but you have to be willing to change your thoughts to do so.

Sounds real easy until you have to confront this issue yourself.

The one question that he reiterates to me every time we speak is…

ขWhat would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?ข

I have no doubt that within this question lies all the wisdom that an individual or organization would ever need to be able to achieve whatever they wanted.

ขWhat would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?ข

As I started asking myself that question I began to uncover counterproductive illusions about beliefs, ideas and thoughts that I nurture without even realizing it. Maybe you can relate? It reminds of the comment Mark Twain once made when he said, ขI have been through some really terrible stressful things in my life……….some of them which actually happened.ข

The secret of business success is ridiculously simple. So much so that we often dismiss it. What thoughts have you planted that are creating your current experience? What illusions do you regularly entertain that prevent you from being responsible for every area of your life? You can blame others for the unhappiness you feel, or you can take responsibility for your life. But you cannot do both. You must make a choice.

The กdivinity that shapes your destinyก is you!

Every day for the rest of your life you will think roughly 60,000 thoughts. Unless you focus that energy into some meaningful purpose you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Set ambitious goals for yourself and you will be well on your way to choosing the best thoughts energy can buy! The focus that this will create in your life will speak volumes. A question that will assist you in this regard whenever you experience a setback is:

ขWhat would a person have to believe and think about regularly to experience this?ข

Think about what you think about, before you think that next thought!

Be careful with what you agree with!

Copyright 2004 Harald Anderson

About The Author

Harald Anderson is the cofounder of Artinspires.com a leading online gallery of motivational posters and inspirational prints.ขWhen Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com/

This article was posted on August 26, 2004

by Harald Anderson

Focus! Focus! Focus!

Focus! Focus! Focus!

by: Peter Simmons

The success of your online business relies on you making sales, actually selling your product or service to paying customers. The more the better. To get those sales you need to communicate well with your potential customers and make a good sales pitch. What you say and how you say it are therefore very important and can make the difference between your business succeeding or failing.

When you sell your products and services online, you communicate largely through text. What you say in that text directly influences the customerกs decision to either buy or not buy your product, in the same way that a realworld sales conversation would. Your potential customer wants to hear interesting and important information that will help them make that decision. That decision begins from the moment they arrive at your website.

Lets imagine you are looking to buy a particular product. You learn that the product is available on two different websites. You visit each site and read their text.

This is what Site A says to you in effect:

let us tell you about us,

hereกs some very basic product details we feel we should give you,

hereกs an inadequate photo of the product we had lying around,

this is why we are in business and why we think we are great,

yeah we know weกve made it difficult for you to use our site. We didn’t want to make the effort to find out what our customers want,

this is where we are located (usually accompanied by a picture of their building).

Site B says:

yes we sell the product you are looking for. here it is…,

let us tell you all about it,

hereกs some good reasons why you should buy it immediately,

hereกs some good reasons why you should buy from us (and not our competitors),

Its easy for you to buy from us. Just do this…,

Let us know if we can serve you better or answer any questions you may have.

Which one is going to get the sale? Obviously Site B will get the sale. Why? Because they clearly show they understand their customers. They:

Focus on their customers!

Focus on their needs!

Focus on their priorities!

They provide information that is useful to you in making your buying decision. They are focused on you the customer, not themselves. Their text is all about กyouก. They work hard to ensure all this and demonstrate it on their website. They make it very easy to interact with them and that also gives you the impression they will be very easy to deal with too.

Site A, on the otherhand, may indeed have some useful information on their webpage but its not there in quantity and for your benefit. It can of course be useful to know where a company is located. But, if they are going on about it or its the first thing you see on arrival, its more likely there to propup their over inflated ego and demonstrate how successful they think they are. Their focus is directed entirely on themselves. You are not their number 1 priority, they are! Don’t they realise that customers can read between the lines and spot this easily?

In addition to focusing on their customers, thereกs also something else that Site B does very well. Its not as easy to spot but has a dramatic effect on their sales. Its the way they deliver their information. They know its vital to keep your attention and interest. If they lose it for a second they may lose it forever.

Theyกve noticed that other sites write paragraphs of text that grab your interest in one sentence and lose it in the next, because the information provided is not relevant or important to you at that point. It should either be removed or replaced. So they have made a conscious effort to hold your interest at all times throughout a paragraph or piece of text. Their paragraphs say exactly what you want to know and in the order you want to know it. They hold your interest throughout with useful and valuable information. They don’t tolerate any irrelevant or unimportant information whatsoever.

This is the ideal situation for your company to be in. To have customers who are keen to listen to what you have to say and trust what you say. They know you are focused on them, their needs and their priorities. They are far more likely to listen to your recommendations and make purchases based on them. You will build stronger, equally beneficial and more rewarding relationships with them. Those relationships will be hard to break by your competitors, especially if you keep that focus and continuously improve your offers, products and service.

Questions to ask?

Are you focused on your customers?

Are you providing the right information at the right times?

Do you keep their attention and interest at all times?

Do you distract them at anytime?

Are you getting maximum sales from your website?

Action to take on your website:

Concentrate on selling more products.

Concentrate on selling them well.

Remove any distracting, confusing or irelevant text.

Try to keep the readers interest continuously.

Remember: Focus on your customers! Focus on their needs! Focus on their priorities!

Good luck!

About The Author

Peter Simmons is editor of the DYNAMIQ EZINE. GET MAXIMUM RESULTS FROM YOUR WEBSITE! Increase your traffic, prospect conversions, sales, profits, referrals and more… START GETTING RESULTS RIGHT NOW at http://www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine or email me anytime for immediate assistance mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 06, 2002

by Peter Simmons

10 Easy Steps to Boost Your Search Engine Rankings

10 Easy Steps to Boost Your Search Engine Rankings!

by: Marcus Schroefel

In order that someone finds your website and buys your product on the Internet it is essential to make it known to the world. So the first thing you do is to submit to search engines.
But a search engine listing alone does not assure you will receive any new visitors to your Website until and unless you appear among the high rankers. Your Website must achieve higher search engine rankings in order that your customers are able to find your site promptly.
You will reach higher rankings if you follow the easy steps to optimise your website which I’ve compiled below:
1. Research Your Keywords!
This is the single most important aspect of search engine optimisation, so there simply is no way out. If you don’t know how your visitors search for your product or service, then you are only guessing.
And can you imagine a hunter who doesn’t know where to send his bullet? I bet you don’t. Don’t just assume you know how people are going to try and find you.
Visit your competition and look at the terms they use in the keyword tags and throughout their pages and compile a list of keywords.
You’ll spend a good bit of time on this because it will payoff big later. Once you have your list, rank the phrases in order of importance starting with the most important keyword phrase.
2. Give Your Keywords Focus!
Now it is time to start getting the text for your pages ready. When doing so, you will want each of your pages to focus on one of the keyword phrases from your list. Your homepage should focus on your most important phrase and each subsequent subpage should focus on another keyword phrase.
Ideally, you should never focus on more than one or two keyword phrases per page. Trying to focus on more than this will dilute the theme of the page and could have a negative effect on your rankings.
3. Optimise Your Title Tag!
The title tag is one of the most important elements of your page. Search engines put more weight on the title tag than any other single element of your page. Your title tag should ALWAYS contain the keyword phrase you have chosen to target for that page.
Keep the tag short, no more than about 6 words generally, but make it appealing. Make the title irresistible to your visitors but keep it also short enough that you don’t take away from the importance of your keyword phrase.
4. K.I.S.S. Keep Your Pages as Simple as Possible!
Avoid overloading your page with things such as frames, excessive javascript, flash, too many graphics or image maps. This can have a negative affect on your search engine rankings.
A good rule of thumb is that the simpler the page, the better it will generally rank. Even tables, when used too much can break up the flow of the text on a page and hurt your chances at a top ranking.
5. Create Good Content!
For sure you will find top ranking sites with very little content, but you will have a much better time getting and keeping a top ranking with good content. This not only gives the engines more to index, but it gives your visitors something worth to read and absorb.
Your customers will thank you and they will be more likely to return in the future to do business. Don’t just compile large lists of links – it’s not very attractive to your customers.
You should make it to your personal rule to offer only high quality – no matter what target group you are trying to appeal.
6. Think Big!
What does this mean? Quite simply, it means that a site of 30 or more pages has, at least, 6 times the chances to get a top ranking as a site of 5 pages.
The more pages your site has with good, solid, quality content, the more keyword phrases you can target and the more chances you have of achieving a top ranking.
7. Create a System of Internal Linking!
You should be able to get to just about any page on your site within no more than 3 clicks. Consider creating a site map with links to all of the pages within your site. This will assist the engines in properly indexing your site.
When creating your internal links try to use the actual keyword phrase that you will be targeting on the page you are linking to as the link text. Many engines look at the visible text of a hyperlink as a description of the target page. If the visible text matches the focus of that page, it will help to give that page a boost in the rankings.
8. Build External Link Popularity!
Even if this might appear to be a long and arduous task, but it is crucial to your success. All of the top engines use link popularity quite heavily when ranking sites. It is important to note that it is not only the quantity of links that is important but also the quality of those links.
One link from a site such as Yahoo is worth as much or more than 100 links from unknown sites. Also remember, it is also important that you link to other sites. When linking to other sites, or attempting to get them to link to you, always shoot for sites that are of a similar theme as your site.
9. Monitor Your Rankings!
This is best accomplished through a program like Rank Me, WebPosition Gold, or other similar programs. If you see your position starting to slide, look at your competitors sites that have overtaken you and see if you can determine a pattern. This will tell you what you need to do to regain your position.
10. Keep Going!
Now that your’re at this step keep at it, don’t quit. This is just the beginning. If you don’t get a top ranking right from the scratch don’t get discouraged. Therefore be consistent and patient in your efforts.
This will establish a basis for building a successful business online for years to come. Heck, how did your first attempt at rideing a bike turn out?
Give yourself some time to get accustomed to this new field. Keep tracking your progress, analyse your competition, and making adjustments, and in no time at all, you will find yourself sitting among the high rankers.

About The Author

Marcus Schroefel is an Author, Publisher and Success Coach. Visit: http://www.mindclicking.com. You can get more proven traffic generating tips delivered to your email box just 5 minutes away for FREE by sending a blank email to: [email protected].

This article was posted on July 08, 2004

by Marcus Schroefel

How to Keep Your Focus on Your Home Business Goals

How to Keep Your Focus on Your Home Business Goals

by: Kevin Purfield

As you begin your new home business you will find there will be hundreds of distractions that will fight for your time and attention.
If you are new to working from home you will have to deal with such issues as family interruptions, friends, neighbors, television, radio, visitors, email and phone calls.
You must structure your time and set a schedule to work on your home business. If you were working for someone else you would not expect your friends and neighbors to stop by for a visit.
You must clearly explain to the people you know that this is your job and your can not stop to chat simply because you are home.
People may think that your job is less serious because you are working from home.
You must remind yourself of the reasons why you choose to bring your profession home. Was it to have more free time with your children, to earn more money than your previous job paid, to create more freedom for yourself and your loved ones?
Remember your home business should be treated as a real job. You are the person who makes the decisions now. You must organize your time without someone else telling you when you should work and take care of your business.
Schedule a portion of your workday to answering emails and written communications and returning important phone calls.
One hour in the morning and one later in the day should be fine. Be sure to be consistent so you do not get distracted from your other tasks.
Focus your time on your most productive activities and find a third party to assist with less important tasks if you need to.
When you are first getting started and perhaps you are in the middle of working on a project and you don’t quite know if it is going to be the success you hope for, it is very easy to get distracted and go on to something else that looks more promising.
You will learn with experience what types of projects and tasks excite you, which are the best fit for your knowledge, skills, and resources.
But in the beginning when you are first getting started for the first time then this can be a bit confusing, understand this is normal.
The most important thing for you is to take what you have now and turn it into a success.
It is more important to finish what you start than it is to jump from project to project.
When you jump to another idea or project you have to repeat all the things that you did on the last idea or project.
You may find that it is easy for you to start your work but you have a problem with sticking to it until it is finished.
Make a promise to yourself that you will do your best to finish the projects you start before you begin the process of starting something new.
Do your best to work on something you believe in. Get excited about your work.
Be sure to break down the tasks involved in getting large projects up and running. If you approach the smaller tasks individually they will be easier to handle than if you tried dealing with them all together.
Take care of your health by exercising and eating healthy food. The better you feel and the healthier you are the more you will be able to focus on your business.
Write down a list of the goals you wish to acheive with your home business and the time in which you want to achieve them.
Try making a list of the top 5 things you want to accomplish, then set a timer for 20 30 minutes. When the timer goes off drop what your doing and Move on to the next task.
Exercises such as this can keep you up and excited As you work towards a deadline. It will automatically set your mind to focus on what needs to be completed in a specified time.
Take a break every 2 hours, go for a short walk and get some fresh air, talk to a friend on the phone or read a few pages of a motivational book.
The success of your home business is entirely and completely up to you and the decisions you make.
Success is within your reach when you keep your focus on your goals.

About The Author

Kevin Purfield owns the Wealth System Online. You can find everything you need to start your own home based internet business at: http://www.wealthsystemonline.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 20, 2004

by Kevin Purfield

Hocus Pocus? Itกs Just Focus!

Hocus Pocus? Itกs Just Focus!

by: Evonne Llewellyn

How many times have you wondered what magic formula the top Net earners were using?

There really isn’t any magic involved. No magic wand or success secret that only a select few know about.

Making money on the Net boils down to one thing, and one thing only.

FOCUS

Easier said then done. Right? Do the following statements sound familiar?

*All these emails in my in box I just HAVE to read because they just MIGHT contain a few that aren’t spam.*

*Iกll just check out those couple of websites and I promise not to let myself get carried away with following link after link.*

*Wow, this new, hot, just launching program looks GREAT. Signing up for one more Affiliate program can’t hurt.*

* Goals? What goals? I don’t have time to write down goals.*

Chances are youกve caught yourself saying most of these statements. Haven’t you?

Focusing will insure you don’t say them ever again. So what do I mean when I say *FOCUS*?

I mean CHANNELING your actions like this….

1. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Market ONE program successfully before you add a second program.

2. The majority of those who write down their goals and create a goal schedule actually succeed.

3. Be strict with yourself and schedule your time for answering emails, promotion activities and surfing the net.

4. Start using an email program to manage your incoming and outgoing emails. Make sure you choose one that allows you to set up filters so you can send known spam straight to the trash can.

===> Eudora Pro or Pegasus have great filtering capabilities. And you can get both for FREE.

===> Download Eudora from http://www.eudora.com/

===> Download Pegasus from http://www.pmail.com/

Taking the time to follow the above 4 channeling activities will result in less time spent on unproductive activities and ultimately produce a larger online income.

And wasn’t that the reason why you started your online home based business? To supplement your income? Or get away from the rat race? Give yourself the chance to succeed. Focus.

Focusing is a skill. A skill anyone can develop. Your future success depends on it.

Remember this simple formula….

FOCUS + EFFORT = SUCCESS

Write it down, tape it to the top of your monitor and read it everyday.

And while you’re at it….throw that magic wand in the trash. (Whoever would have thought you could buy one on eBay?)

About The Author

Evonne Llewellyn Publisher, Webmaster and successful Home Based Business Owner. Subscribe to Success Solutions Globalzine published since 1998 and get the solutions and resources You need for Your success at http://www.successsolutions.com

This article was posted on January 20, 2002

by Evonne Llewellyn